What’s the reality behind becoming an expat? There’s a lot of planning that goes into moving your life to a different country, and there are considerations that must be made before a major move. As an employer, it’s important that you understand this before you hire someone from overseas.
Whether you run a business and you’ve offered a role to someone who has just moved over, or you’ve given one of your employees the opportunity to work in one of your international locations, it’s worth having a plan in place to make them feel comfortable. Here are some ideas to help make the transition as smooth as possible.
Maintain communication
It’s easy to see the appeal of packing up and working in another country. Getting to experience a different culture and way of life, all while contributing to the local economy and making a permanent base for yourself, make it a popular dream for many.
By inviting someone to move country to work for your company, you’re giving them the opportunity to follow their dream. Therefore, it’s important that you keep in contact with them and let them know that they are still on your radar in the weeks that follow your invite.
They have a lot of admin to do before they move and it’s a huge commitment, so reminding them that you know they’re coming over and letting them know how things will look when they arrive will ease any concerns they might have.
Help with accommodation
Where they’ll live is probably the biggest concern for expats. They’re at a disadvantage because they’re not likely to know the property renting and buying rules in the country they’re moving to.
For example, they may not know the safest areas to live in or they might not be aware of where the best value properties are.
To help them in their first few months in the country, the business could put them and their families up while they find their feet. Whether you’re offering them a stay at a serviced apartment in New York or the company owns employee chalets in New Zealand, offering this can help to make the transition smoother.
Offer cultural and language training
When it comes to European destinations, people from the UK tend to move to Spain. Meanwhile, a 2019 report by expat planning portal MoveHub revealed the global picture, where we tend to head to Australia.
Wherever you’re based in the world, it’s worth offering training to support expats with their move. For instance, if your employee is moving to Spain, running some basic Spanish lessons will help them to integrate once they’ve moved over. Similarly, although Australia shares many similarities with the UK, there are cultural differences that might need to be flagged to workers before they start work.
This training could be applied before and after they’ve moved over and the type of training you offer will depend on where the employee is travelling to.
